Many teen students are finding themselves lost and bored throughout this long quarantine break, so they are finding jobs to compensate. 

What was initially supposed to be a couple weeks away from school has now turned into over six months and counting of distance learning due to COVID-19 restrictions. There is no telling if distance learning will end soon or if it’s just the beginning, so people are learning to adjust to this new style of living. Life in quarantine has been difficult for many people. The rules and regulations that have recently been put into place have affected many lives worldwide. Teens have become bored and anxious of staying home, so they began to find new things to do.

With nothing to do, curious-minded teens started to find new hobbies and ways of staying entertained during quarantine. For example, reading, zoom calling, binge watching, etc. This led to a noticeable trend in teens finding jobs to spend their time over this quarantine. Although many businesses shut down or are remaining closed during this time, some essential workplaces have been looking for people to hire, including teens. Furthermore, a number of businesses are finally getting the green light to re-open stores and workplaces, and they’re eager to hire new people.

Along with finding a productive way to spend time over quarantine break, teens are also benefiting from this. Money is a good reason why anyone would want a job in the first place. Getting any job allows a person to have their own money in which they decide how to spend it, to a certain extent. This is a good reason as to why a teen student would want to have a job. It also gives experience and new skills to students who are going to move on with their lives after high school. 

Senior Trinity Hodgins said,”…having your own source of money makes you feel less dependent”, which most teens would probably agree with. Hodgins feels that having a job is a good way of rewarding yourself with your effort.

Although on the other side of things, a teen job can be seen as an obstruction to student’s time to some parents. While schools expect students to put in a certain amount of hours of school work into a day, a job can get in the way of things like this. Getting a job creates less time for things like school work and other hobbies. For those fixed on school and keeping an organized schedule, teenage jobs might not be the best choice.

Senior Gabriel Avila said,”…it’s hard to keep up with so much like sports and school while still having a job”. Avila plays football for the Bulldogs, so he has to fit in things such as  school work into his tight schedule.

Having a job as a teenager is a great learning experience to have at a young age, with some exceptions. Teenage jobs show that students can become more independent and versatile in the situations they are given.

A job as a teenage student is great to have as long as you have the time for it. Much can be learned and great opportunities can stem from this. There’s a lot to learn from having your first job and it’s one of the first big steps to growing up after high school.